/ You Are Hear

Conversations with ourselves build a better understanding of our past, grow an appreciation of our present and give us clarity for our future. We are often too busy for moments of detailed self-reflection, allowing internal dialogue to fade into the background or find it flowing without intention. Simplicity is hard to find, silence even more so.

We created an experience that enabled reflection, reminding and reassurance. Based around silence, thought, writing and a reel to reel tape deck, the experience allowed the participants in it to hear themselves. A space and time to think with intent about what makes them, them and who they aspire to be.

This project was done in collaboration with Cameron Coupe.
The room was designed around isolation, silence and simplicity. To allow for a continuous focus on internal thoughts the space was intentionally crafted to be clean, comfortable and provide minimal external distractions.
Each participant began by retrieving a personalized reel box that would guide them through the rest of their experience.

Prompted actions led the participants to load & turn on the reel to reel machine. The tape provided would play silence for ten minutes. This silence was "filled" with the writings of each of the ten participants.
We often think about who we are or who we hope to be, but rarely make a focused effort to put these feelings, goals, dreams & hopes into words. Although prompted, each session was essentially a free write. Perfect grammar, linear thought, and refined content was never the goal. Each write lasted 10 minutes.

The Prompt:
Describe The Person You Hope To Become.

While our group of participants was solely upperclassman in college, our audience was everyone. Regardless of who you are, where you've been, or where you're going, moments of self reflection are always beneficial.
The obective, ideas, message and intial experience were then showcased through a publication and a gallery experience.

Taking over a 12'x12' gallery space we were able to share our project through crafting a secondary experience. Included were all reel boxes & writings, the tape deck actively unspooling, video portraits of all participant paired with the audio recorded during each persons unique session, & a small takeaway that contained a condensed version of the free write prompt which allowed visitors to recreate the experience on their own.